Doh!

So my trusty and very well-paid research assistant -- okay, it's actually my 10-year-old son Ryan -- was doing what he does best -- researching upcoming Simpsons episodes -- when he came upon this gem: Soccer returns to the show with a rotund special guest star from Brazil.

Announcing aside - the presentation of the game is pretty good on espn. This has improved - better camera angles, etc. I actually also like Hopkins on the sidelines.

Surprised to see Dallas turn this game around, but they look pretty good now. This kid Toja can play. Apparently they got him from River Plate in Argentina - see some other teams trying the DCU approach too.

Man Tell me something, Goff, by this post i could tell you and your son must be pretty good followers of the simpsons, do you agree that they completely have dropped off in the comedy department? As this clip you linked is not from the newer episodes? Ariaga? Ariaga II??

One more thing, is this suppose to impress us DC Fans? I'd be more impressed if they introduced to us a animated etcheverry, drinking beers with Homer at Moe's Tavern, at the same time singing "viva mi patria bolivia".

My indoor team features a player wearing Adiaga II on his back. We were going to have all of the fake players (Adiaga, Adiaga II, Badiaga, Aruglia, and Pizzoza) but there were too many other good fake names.

Toja looks like he could be one of the better players in MLS this season.

That's funny, when I saw the white shirts on Galaxy, I said to my wife that I bet this is the start of the inevitable rebranding of LAG. I'm now waiting to see how long it is before that green vertical strip changes to blue. And then - voila - the introduction of the all blue home shirts.

Of course, it may very well be that they haven't yet ironed on the Herbalife decal on the yellows. It really looks like they simply slapped a bumper sticker on the front of each jersey...

I've come to a realization regarding the ESPN broadcasts: Wynalda now serves two purposes. Insightful commentary, and he keeps O'Brien in the game. That broadcast (while not perfect) was so much better than the United game just days ago.

I don't think there'll be an 'evolution' of the Gals kits, I think it's just the de-emphasizing of the ugly yellow green.

I'm just waiting for the day when the sideline reporter is interviewing a player who just came off the field, right at the moment when one of the teams scores a goal, and nobody gets to see it live because ESPN was trying to do the "Amurrikan" TV thing of having a sideline reporter and not concentrating on the game itself.

As to the game last night. Pretty good. I have to echo what has been sent here about the presentation. Wow! Did some of you catch in HD? I could not believe I was watching a soccer game. 1000% better in terms of the production value. More cameras, better angles, better slow-mo replays. In HD it was outstanding. Even the commentary was not terrible. Not great cause you have an athlete learning to become a broadcaster/announcer and someone who has very little clue about soccer learning the game. For where they're coming from they did ok. I have to agree that the commentary was head and shoulders above the opener. I kind of liked the Stone/Foudy pairing. Don't kill me just yet. Give it a little time, I think they'll get better as well.

Dave O'Brian is still dreadful, he's just not as bad as he used to be, and it's probably not his fault since ESPN/ABC just threw him into broadcasting soccer. JP Delacamara (sp?) should be doing every possible broadcast because he grew up around the game and knows the intricacies of the game. When a player gets a card it's called getting "booked." When a ball goes out for a throw it goes over the "touchline," not the sideline. These are little things that the casual fan won't notice, but to real soccer/futbol fans, it makes a huge difference, at least to me.

As an American, I don't expect people in the US to call the field a "pitch" or cleats "boots," but there are certain things that should remain contant whether they are being called in the US or overseas.

I did like the camera angles that ESPN provided, and the picture was great on my HDTV, but O'Brian's got to go.